Hey Church!

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

This description of “the dead in Christ” rising from their graves and joining all the living saints in the clouds with the Lord is known as “the rapture.” If you were a Christian in the late 90’s or early 2000’s, your understanding of the rapture may have been influenced by the popular book series, Left Behind. The first book describes a sudden and secretive disappearance of Christians around the world. Passengers on an airplane, drivers of vehicles everywhere, people walking down the sidewalk–suddenly, gone without explanation! 

Although the story is entirely fictional, its theological underpinning is a truly held belief by some. In addition to the 1 Thessalonians passage above, proponents of a sudden, secret disappearance point to the Bible’s description of Jesus’ return as “a thief in the night” (Matt. 24:43; 1 Thess. 5:2, 4; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 16:15). Or, similarly, like “the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52). 

However, the late theologian and professor at Knox Seminary, Dr. Robert Reymond, believed that the rapture, quite the opposite of the inexplicable mystery conveyed in Left Behind, will be more like a royal procession, full of attention-arresting fanfare. Dr. Reymond takes the language of 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and compares it to an ancient Roman triumphal procession: 

1. A visiting King (such as a Roman emperor) approaches the city. 
2. Citizens of the city go outside the gates to meet the King.
3. They escort the King into the city in a celebratory procession. 

Dr. Reymond argued that Paul’s original audience would have certainly understood the imagery he employed: “Meet the Lord in the air” is like citizens meeting outside the city gates; they meet not to leave the city, but to return with Him in victorious procession; there they “will always be with the Lord,” reigning over the new heavens and new earth. This confronts the popular notion that we will be stolen suddenly out of the earth to be with Him in heaven. Our everlasting inheritance is not a cloud in the sky, but a renewed, purified earth. 

If Dr. Reymond’s interpretation of Paul’s words is correct, then the idea that Christians everywhere will be suddenly removed from the earthly realm, never to be seen again, should be replaced in our imaginations with a vision of victorious procession back into the earth with the King. Furthermore, when the Bible speaks of the last day, it seems to envision one return of the King with His subjects, rather than a retreat of the saints (and subsequent re-return of the King, per the pre-tribulation view). 

The Apostle Paul began his speech about the last days with a statement of purpose: “We do not want you to be uninformed about those who have fallen asleep.” On the fearful topic of death, he hopes that this vision of resurrection and victorious royal procession will inspire confident hope within us. And so he concludes with the instructions, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”